Category Archives: hobby

December 31, 2019 · 2:29 pm

Did You Get a Cricut Maker For Christmas and Don’t Know Where To Start?

If you received a new Cricut Maker or other model for Christmas and don’t know where to start, you might want to keep reading. I have some beginner Cricut videos up on our YouTube channel and plan to add more. It will get you started on some great projects. View the whole Cricut Video Playlist for more inspiration.

There are videos about saving money on Cricut supplies, tips and hacks about how to get free Cricut fonts and SVGs plus so much more.

I also plan to do some Live Cricut Crafting that you can join us for, so make sure you subscribe to us on YouTube and click that bell so you will be notified of new videos as soon as they are posted.

Happy Crafting!!!

The Perfect Gift For the Angler in Your Life – #MTB #HappyFishing

Do you have a favorite angler in your life? Maybe you have a few. I know, I do! Living in Trout Town, USA, I have more than a few dedicated and hobby anglers on my family tree. My oldest 2 sons love fishing, Fly fishing in the Beaverkill River or fishing on the lake we live on, is one of their favorite things to do. On vacations, they love to go deep-sea fishing too.

When I saw Mystery Tackle Box subscription boxes, I thought they were a great idea. They have 2 different kinds of boxes, the MTB Regular or the MTB Pro. In addition to the boxes, you can opt to give a gift certificate, which can bring your favorite fisherman months of excitement. The boxes come with free shipping. and you can cancel at any time.

MTB boxes are a great value, the regular box is only $14.99 and contains about $25 in products. The MTB Pro box gives you about $40 in gear for just $24.99. Below I recorded a very short video of what we received in our MTB Regular Box. My son is going to do a more in-depth video about the products. I will share it with you soon.

Mystery Tackle Box also provides Happy Learning on their website in the form of expert tips and tricks to help you catch the big one! Let me know what you think of Mystery Tackle Box in the comments, and #HappyFishing

3 Comments

Filed under hobby, Outdoor, Outdoor Fun, USFG

Tagged as #HappyFishing, Angle, Bait, Fishing Gear, Lures, Mystery Tackle Box, Subscription Box, USFG, Video Haul

December 8, 2017 · 1:27 pm

The Smart Way To Cart Your Stuff Around #Giveaway

If you are a parent, crafter, teacher, in direct sales or more, you will love the Smart Cart by DBest Products. It is the easier and less awkward way to transport your stuff. Easily haul and store your craft supplies, instructional books, presentation items and so much more.

The Smart Cart is an easy to operate, convenient, collapsible rolling cart with telescoping handle. The smooth gliding wheels lets you maneuver the cart easily, even in tight spaces. The cart is lightweight and can carry up to 110 lbs. It folds compactly for easy storage. The patented, ergonomically designed handle has a non-slip rubber grip.

Made of durable, flexible waterproof material, the smart cart is ideal to haul important files or electronics. Available in 3 colors (red,black and blue) the smart cart is perfect to bring with you to the grocery store and to use to cart bags from your car to the house. The handy front pocket lets you store items you want to have easy access to.

I am loving these carts, they are ideal for so many things. Love to store my craft supplies in them because I can just roll the cart out to where I am working. When I am finished I just put everything inside and roll the cart right into the closet.

The carts are very handy when traveling, because I can load quite a few items inside, like my kids tablets, stuffed animals, books and toys and they can roll it in and out of the hotel or anywhere else we are staying. It also gives them a place to keep all their stuff while we are away from home, so less chance of them leaving something behind when we leave.

Cart Dimensions:

L 11″ x W 13″ x H 17″

Handle extends to 41″

The smart cart makes a perfect gift and that is why we have added the Smart Cart to Mommy Ramblings’ 2017 Holiday Gift Guide.

Giveaway: 2 Winners!!!

DB Products Smart Cart Giveaway (2 Winners) on Mommy Ramblings Rules:

Enter for your chance to win using the Rafflecopter widget below. Good Luck!!!

Continue reading →

81 Comments

Filed under Crafts, Gift, Giveaway, hobby, Holiday Gift Guide, Review, Shopping, Travel

Tagged as Baby Gear, Crafters, DBest Products, Groceries, Haul, sales, Scrapbooking, Smart Cart, Store, Teachers, Transport

March 4, 2017 · 12:02 pm

Save Big on Gorgeous, Sterling Silver Charms at Soufeel

What are your favorite things? Your family, hobbies, lifestyle, career and pets are probably some things that come to mind. You might remember past posts where I shared charms that represented my family, hobbies and pets. I really love Soufeel charms because they are beautiful and they have such a wide range of charms. You can add photos to their charms and personalize them with custom engraving which makes them truly unique and so special.

All of Soufeel’s charms are made of 100% 925 sterling silver. Swarovski and colored gems are also used to create stunning, works of art to wear around your wrist.

A couple of weeks ago, I was on Soufeel’s website and ordered several new charms to add to my charm bracelets. I even received a free gift with my order, a Pink Travel Car which you can see below.

Soufeel is having an amazing sale and most of their charms are on sale. The Red Travel Suitcase that I have been eyeing for a while is 50% off and one of the first I added to my cart.

I chose the Diving Mask because I love swimming, snorkeling and live on a lake.

The Bicycle charm really appealed to me because I love the style and I wanted to have a charm that represented my love of cycling.

I thought the Travel Car in Blue was a great way to represent the fun and exciting road trips we take as a family.

I received a Pink Travel Car as a free gift and so that was a nice surprise that I can put on my second charm bracelet or give as a gift.

I am a huge tea drinker so the Lemon Tea charm was one I had to have.

I truly believe With God All Things Are Possible so when I saw that beautiful charm, I wasted no time adding it to my cart.

Last but not least, this Pink Forever Love flower charm was on a super sale of only $9.99! No wonder it is sold out but Soufeel has great Charm Deals, where you can find charms at 90% off!

Soufeel even has a rewards program where you can earn points you can use toward jewelry. They have more than charms, they have a wide selection of necklaces, earrings, rings and more. I hope you check out their website.

Do you like charms? If so, what kind appeal the most to you?

Soufeel provided me with the above charms at no cost. As always my words and views are 100% my own.

2 Comments

Filed under Collectibles, Gifts, hobby, jewelry

Tagged as Charm Bracelet, Charms, Family, Gifts, Hobbies, Jewelry, life, Religious, Soufeel, Sterling Silver

October 3, 2016 · 1:55 pm

The Perfect Gift For Your LEGO Brick Lovers!

Do your kids love LEGO Building Kits as much as my kids do? If they do, they are probably something they are asking for all the time. Can you imagine their delight getting a box of their favorite building bricks and figures delivered right to your door? There is a new subscription box company for LEGO and Brick fanatics named Brick Loot! Subscribers receive a monthly box that is packed with unique, custom and never before-seen items that work with LEGO bricks and custom building. Every month when your child opens the box they will find 4-8 items hand-picked by Brick specialists who search the world for the newest, coolest products for kids to collect.

Brick Loot was founded by a 9-year-old and these boxes are for ages 6-99. If you are 100, I guess you are out of luck. If you would like to try this great subscription service I have good news. Mommy Ramblings’ readers can save 10% off Brick Loot by using the code “usfamily” at checkout.

I would love to hear your thoughts. We think it is great and with the holidays coming up, it would be a great gift idea. What do you think?

1 Comment

Filed under hobby, Holiday, Holiday Gift Guide, kids, Toys, USFG

Tagged as Bricks, Building Sets, Gifts, Lego, mommyramblings, Presents, Subscription Box, toys, USFG

February 21, 2016 · 2:32 am

A Smart Way To Inspire Creativity In You Child! #SocialBttrflyCo

I guess I would consider myself a pretty creative person. I love trying my hand at new things, enjoy art projects, crafts, DIY and more. I would say it has rubbed off on just about all of my 5 kids in some way, shape or form. We love painting river rocks, making ornaments, tackling a new DIY project together and making all kids of things. My daughter is a champion knitter as well. My husband joins in too and so I think all 7 of us are a creative bunch.

If you have a creative child or maybe you want to do your best to inspire some creativity, I have something great to share. Smart Art Box is a month subscription art box. Every month it arrives filled with the instruments and supplies to inspire the artist in us all!

Each month, your box will feature a range of top-shelf FULL SIZED art supplies – from acrylic paint to polymer clay – plus a project to go along with it to help teach and inspire your inner artist.

PROJECTS FOR EVERYONE

The project’s are unique and cultural. We create projects that give a quick step by step to help those who are new, and guide those that are seasoned. We also provide tips to help new and old artists gain invaluable new skills.

THE TOOLS YOU NEED

With each medium come the tools to manipulate it and bring out the strength that each style can achieve.

Smart Art was created by a small group of friends, driven by the desire to see the world and experience the culture created by historical visionaries. Along the way, they found inspiration in the many mediums found everywhere, from the poorest of villages, to the most prestigious of cities. Each medium expressed the artist’s individual communities, heritage and personality. For this reason, inspired by the passion portrayed in their art, a new determination was born to pursue and discover the many exciting art mediums across the world.

Together, they are committed to ensuring artists understand art and it’s many mediums throughout time in order to create a better understanding of the world around us. Their mission is to deliver products that kindle creativity, stimulate exciting new techniques and establish a deeper connection with art for everyone.

We received our Smart Art Box and were so impressed with everything inside, full size products, everything we need and instruction to guide and inspire us. I will be updating very soon with our masterpieces. This is certainly “Happy Mail“ for a family like ours and I would bet it would be for yours too!

You can visit Smart Art on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram. Let me know if you do try Smart Art Box of if you are already receiving monthly creativity delivered to your doorstep.

I was provided with a Smart Art Box to facilitate this post as a blogger working with @SocialBttrflyCo. As always my words and views are always 100% my own.

See The #1 Subscription Box For The Fisherman In Your Life

Subscription boxes are hot but you may not think of fishing tackle when you think of subscription box services. You might be surprised to learn Lucky Tackle Box is the #1 monthly subscription box in fishing.

With LTB you pay a low monthly fee and you will receive a box jam-packed with new lures and baits on the 10th of every month. Shipping is free throughout the United states and you are not roped into a contract, so you can cancel at any time.

If you want to have the same products at the end of your line that professional anglers are using to catch the big fish, you will want to try a Lucky Tackle Box subscription box. If you don’t, you might be telling fish tales about the one that got away.

Unlike other fishing subscription box services that send samples in their boxes, Lucky Tackle Box sends subscribers full size products that give them the biggest bang for their buck. I recently had a chance to sample a Bass Fishing subscription box for largemouth and smallmouth bass.

It arrived in a timely manner and was full of all kinds of lures and baits perfect for anyone fishing for largemouth or smallmouth bass. I liked that the box contained full sized products all picked specifically for bass fishing. We live on a lake filled with bass so it was nice to give this to my older sons who were very impressed with the products.

You can choose a box based on whatever type of fish you are fishing for. I like that there is a variety to choose from. I think this subscription service that is suited to anglers of all experience makes a great gift idea. Sometimes it is hard to buy for a man in your life but if they like fishing, they would find that Lucky Tackle Box is a definite “Keeper.”

You can find Lucky Tackle Box on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

Vintage School Desk Transformation #3!!! American Seating Company Desk Gets A Facelift

I found this beauty scanning Craigslist in late winter or early spring and it was listed under furniture as “student desk.” I was pleasantly surprised to find a vintage school desk in such great shape when I clicked the link. The ad said the owner knew nothing about it and was asking for an offer. I really wanted that desk so I offered him $35 cash, which he accepted immediately and I knew I should have started lower. Oh well, after that I saw listing for very poor condition desks like this going for much more so I was not upset.

We picked it up and were glad to see all the great features it had. The chair slides forward and back and swivels. The desk has two different upright positions and it was in great shape. Now I just wanted to repaint and refinish the seat so I had to decide on colors. I chose a gloss gray Rustoleum paint in a can and a red gloss Rustoleum paint that I used both spray and paint on versions. For the seat, I sanded and then used a Minwax Polyshades all in one stain and varnish. I love the way it turned out. What do you think?

Here is the picture on Craigslist:

Here I am in the middle of painting, I was painting the inside, which I sprayed.

Nice and fresh and clean and pay attention to the quality tools I am using. That is a bonafide stick holding the desk at the proper angle for maximum coverage.

Here is the desk after refinishing the wood in one of the upright positions. It was very sunny so please excuse all the glare.

This is the desk in the other height for the elevated top.

Sun in his eyes.

About the desk:

As I was painting I found the patent in many places and on the portion of the top that holds it in the 2 different upright positions I found this stamped in the metal.

It is from the American Seating Company and is a Model Ten Twenty for which you can see an original ad below. The desk was from the 1950s.

9 Comments

Filed under Crafts, DIY, hobby, Home Improvement

Tagged as American Seating Company, Antique, Mommy Ramblings, Painting, Project, Refinished, school desk, Ten Twenty, Vintage, Vintage Desk

May 6, 2013 · 1:16 am

Decoupage Furniture with Fabric and ModPodge

Hope you all had a super weekend. I had a really busy week, so I was thankful to have a relaxing and fun weekend. I spent some time finishing or nearly finishing some of my many projects. I finished decoupaging one of two little chairs. I still need to seal everything with ModPodge and then I am going to seal the whole chair with a Poly Acrylic. I have to do the other chair, but it should be easier now, since I know a few shortcuts and better ways to do things. I used fabric instead of paper, and it turned out really nice.

I’m almost done with the other school desk I am refinishing, I should be able to finish it tomorrow, at least I hope I will. Then, I have to start on my 3rd desk project and start working on refinishing an antique desk for my studio/office. After that, I plan to start that stair painting project that I told you about for the basement stairs, and the stairs to my studio. I cannot wait to start painting the stairs! All I need is time.

I need to decide whether I am painting the table that goes with the little chairs with grape or turquoise paint. I am also toying with the idea of decoupaging the table top, but I don’t think I will, because I think the paint will be a nice contrast. Who knows though, I may change my mind and decoupage the table. You can see the chair below that needs to be sealed. Let me know what you think of it.

Have you ever done any decoupaging with fabric. Let me know if you have, and how it turned out.

9 Comments

Filed under Crafts, DIY, hobby

Tagged as Chairs, Crafts, Decoupage, DIY, Fabric, Mod Podge, ModPodge, Mommy Ramblings, table

April 7, 2013 · 6:41 pm

Restoration Of A Vintage Little School Desk–A Labor of Love!!!

My father was a great man and he had a very successful career as an Engineer. With his own business he designed and built churches, schools, industrial buildings, custom homes and much more. More than once he brought home some school desks (quite a few) of various sizes. They were mostly in pristine condition and having several I had my own classroom for my dolls and bears in my playroom.

The desks got shuffled between our lake house and our full-time home. I know at one point when I had the first of my kids I had one brought up here but it remained in the basement of the lake house. Several years ago I bought paint and had every intention of freshening it up but it never happened. 2 more kids happened and at some point it must have become damp or wet and rust happened.

However, I was steadfast in my determination and added it to my great list of projects. Friday afternoon I unearthed it from my garage. Yikes! It was sad, and in very rough condition but I had a vision. My husband also gave me some tools to achieve my vision. First I went over the whole thing with a wire brush and next my husband gave me a very powerful drill with a circular metal bristle whosiawatzit that just like magic buffed and grinded that rust away and left me with bare metal to work with.

After rust removal and primer.

First coat of paint and sanding in progress.

We added some wood glue where there was a little bit of separation in some of the wood layers and yes, we are being funny with all the clamps.

Started drizzling (never amounted to anything) while I was staining and so I had to move to the garage.

After it was cleaned up, I applied a primer. Let that dry, that was Friday night. Saturday which was a busy day because it was Ethan’s birthday, I applied a coat of high gloss gray Rustoleum paint. Then today, Sunday, I sanded the seat and backrest. I taped and applied a second coat of paint, then stained the seat and backrest and applied a coat of polyurethane.

The completed project only took a few hours in total between late Friday afternoon and late Sunday afternoon. The poly is drying and I will bring it inside in about an hour to get some nicer pictures. I am really proud to have this memory of mine in my house, to be used by my little ones. It truly was a labor of love and it was amazing to breathe some new life into a tired, sad, little desk.

This is the first of many projects I have planned. So stay tuned for lots of transformations of all kinds. Okay, off to add some felt feet and bring this baby inside. I will update with a picture soon of the finished project.

7 Comments

Filed under Crafts, Decorating, DIY, hobby, Home & Garden

Tagged as Antiques, Crafts, DIY, Hobby, Painting, refinishing, restoration, sanding, school desk